Wisdom tooth extraction under sedation

[Dani1]

Hi

I have been having constant pain from my lower left wisdom tooth over the last week or so and this is probably the third or fourth time that I have had to take antibiotics and painkillers over the last 6 months for this problematic wisdom tooth. My own dentist says that both my bottom left and top left wisdom teeth need to come out under iv sedation at the local hospital but I have never had any toothache pain from the top left wisdom tooth. Is there any reason why he is recommending that both wisdom teeth on the left side should be removed and could anything happen in future if I just have the lower wisdom tooth removed for now? I just dont see the point of having a non aching wisdom tooth removed. Please advise.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your post.

Without seeing your teeth, I could not say why both need to be removed. It is true that when a lower wisdom tooth is removed, the opposing upper wisdom tooth can over-erupt in some cases and start cheek bitting on your cheeks which can traumatize the cheek soft tissue and cause problems in future. Your dentist is probably trying to prevent you from having to have another IV sedation in future to have the upper one removed by pre-emptively removing that tooth now. But ultimately you can decide to have the lower one removed now and monitor the top one if the tooth is ok but be aware that it may over-erupt and need extraction in future.